Scheming at the Speed of Ghost
by roisaber
Summary: Genua Watchwoman Adèle Rumpwheat doesn't have an easy job, and when she arrests a dwarf who tells tales too tall to be entirely false, it's about to get a whole lot more difficult for her and her partner Limestone.


Adèle Beauregard Rumpwheat stared down the sights of her crossbow, her brow furrowed in anger. The hot night air was so humid that it was almost difficult to breathe, and she had to curve her lips and blow a strand of red hair, sticky with sweat, out of her right eye. The dwarf she had in the center of her sights stared right back at her with glazed eyes. His hand was still furiously clutching the large emerald that was the source of their disagreement, and Adèle found herself distressed by the need to repeat herself.

"Parlez-vous Morporque? Put your damn hands up, you're under arrest!"

The dwarf was frozen with fear and probably rapidly going through his limited options. Getting shot by a crossbow bolt was a possibility, of course, and the one that continued to command most of his attention. If he dropped the emerald and ran, would the human Watchwoman really shoot him in the back? The dangerous look in her green eyes, shining in the dim light cast by cast-iron lamp torches, suggested to him that she might.

"It's not what it looks like," the dwarf suggested lamely in a tone that even he didn't find convincing.

Adèle rolled her eyes. "Hands up and let's get moving, oui?"

Rotating gears inside the dwarf's head suddenly locked into place, and in an instant he pocked the emerald and bolted down the cobblestone street of Genua's jewelry district. Adèle cursed and raised her crossbow to keep him in her sights, but she needn't have bothered; the dwarf got three steps before running into Genua's one and only Watchtroll, who simply raised his clenched fist. The dwarf ran into it, face first, and then crumpled down onto the street for a long nap.

"Was that really necessary?" Adèle asked with a snort.

The troll shrugged. Limestone wasn't very fond of dwarves, and less so of criminals.

"Served him right," the yellowish rock creature announced.

Adèle disarmed the crossbow and strapped it to her back. "Well, that's another catastrophe averted. Let's take him back to HQ."

Limestone picked up the sleeping dwarf and slung him over his shoulder. The pair walked down the narrow boulevard that served the jewelry district, and Adèle kept her eyes sharp for trouble. A string of thefts had hit the jewelry district of late, and the Watch was already spread too thin in the steamy, bustling metropolis. It was just past midsummer, and the weather in Genua was boiling. Adèle was surprised she couldn't pick a frog straight out of the swamp already cooked, and her partner Limestone was dangerously limited in his intellectual capacity due to the incessant heat. In the winter, he was a hardboiled police philosopher, but even at night during the summertime it was a wonder he managed to put one foot in front of the other.

Adèle was the second daughter of the owner of a pepper plantation, and her family would have certainly disapproved of her choice to join the Genua Watch if they could be bothered to pay any attention to her at all. As it was, her older brother was doted upon, but her family never visited her and only answered her occasional letters on the holidays. That suited Adèle just fine. She was one of the new kind of woman in Genua – strong, independent, and disciplined. Genua wasn't sure what to make of her, but Adèle was damn sure what to make of Genuans – convicts, usually. She blew her auburn hair out of her eyes again.

Limestone, for his part, moved to Genua for reasons totally undecipherable and then joined the Watch. They'd been happy to have him in the Watch, even though for half of the year careful watch had to be kept on him to keep him from doing something, well, stupid. No one could guess why he'd come down from the mountains to work in a town distinctly unsuited to the qualities of his species and he was deliberately evasive when anyone asked. Apart from his crippling intellectual difficulties in the summer, he was the best partner Adèle could ask for. He was strong, reliable, and completely uninterested in her sexually. Being the only female in the Genua Watch could sometimes get a little uncomfortable, but Limestone had no interest in human romantic escapades.

They made their way back to Watch headquarters. Adèle was happy to discover that Old Man Barteau was manning the desk. He served as her mentor and protector, and they'd even been partners for a brief period until Barteau had to retire to desk work because of a well-earned gimp leg.

"Hey, Old Man," Adèle said with a smile. "We brought you a present."

Barteau snorted. "He's too small, throw him back. Besides, when I told you to go out and find a husband, I didn't mean for you to kidnap one by force!"

The pair laughed, and Adèle unlocked one of the detainment cells; Limestone was far too clumsy in the heat for that kind of precision handiwork. The troll unceremoniously dumped the dwarf inside the cell, and Adèle locked the door as soon as the large troll was out.

"What'd he do?" Barteau asked conversationally while he dug through his paperwork for a fresh arrest report for Adèle.

"I caught him on Rue d'Or breaking and entering. He was like a kid with his hand in the cookie jar – he just stood there with a stupid look on his face and bolted."

"Did you get a name or anything?"

Adèle laughed. "He didn't say much other than 'oof' after Limestone hit him."

Barteau found a blank arrest report and held it up triumphantly. "Here, I'll leave this on your desk. Make sure you fill it out before you go home, you hear?"

"Can't I do it… tomorrow?" Adèle asked without much hope.

"The Chief is always looking for a reason to get on your case. Don't give him one, eh?"

"Oui, oui," Adèle answered with a sigh. "Limestone, come on mon ami, let's get back to the jewelry district and finish our patrol."

The troll obediently followed her out, and the two once again took up positions on Rue d'Or. The two discovered much to Adèle's dismay that another shop had been burgled when they had been off dealing with the dwarf.

"Merde!"

Adèle and Limestone did a thorough search of the premises and came up empty. It was a classic smash-and-grab with one minor, inconvenient detail – as far as the pair could tell, nothing had actually been stolen. The door lock was broken, it was true, and one of the glass cases had been shattered, sending pieces of sharp, jagged glass all over the satin covered display case. But Adèle saw exactly what she didn't expect to find inside the case – that is, anything at all. Diamond-studded sapphire earrings and emerald broaches sat on satin, completely undisturbed. Adèle looked searchingly to Limestone in the dark.

"What the sweet Hell is this?" she demanded. "Do you think we scared the perp off before he could grab anything?"

Limestone thought, an agonizingly slow process in the sultry night air.

"Maybe he found sometime more valuable than jewels," the troll finally suggested after an interminable pause.

Adèle almost laughed at him, and then stopped herself. Limestone wasn't stupid, per se, not even in the summer, and he'd been on the Watch longer than her and had more experience. She decided to take his suggestion very seriously, and she turned it over in her head.

"What would you keep in a display case in a jeweler's that would be more valuable than jewels?" she asked out loud.

The hot night air was silent except for the cries of nocturnal animals, the rumbling of late night delivery carts over cobblestone streets, the happy shouts of revelers stumbling home from the bar, the sound of a calliope playing at a 24 hour circus, the hammering of metal at a nearby foundry, and her own short, strained breathing. Adèle tried to wipe off her sweaty palms on the skirt of her uniform, only to discover that it was just as heavy with the wetness of the ambient humidity. She groaned.

"Limestone, will you please guard this store in case the burglar returns for the rest of the take? I'm going to continue patrolling Rue d'Or."

Limestone shrugged amiably. Despite the fact that he had seniority over her, he was wise enough to follow her lead during the excruciating heat and slowness of summer.

"Voleur fou," she mumbled to herself as she searched the rest of the street for signs of the robber. "What were you looking for?"

The rest of the street seemed secure, and Adèle was confident that no one was going to try to push past Limestone to get at the valuables within the burgled store. She kept careful watch over the alley until the owners of the shops finally started returning to open their businesses for the day. Adèle had to stoically endure the accusations of the owner of the Family Jewels.

"What do we even pay taxes for?" the owner asked in an accusatory tone. "Maybe you're all in on it with the thieves!"

"The Thieves Guild is a licensed and well-respected organization, monsieur," Adèle explained patiently. "They would have left a receipt. This is freelance work of some kind. So I can add it to my report, can you please tell me if anything is missing?"

The owner glanced at the broken display case, and Adèle saw his face fall.

"Nothing," he quickly told her.

"Rien?" Adèle asked with surprise. "Who breaks into a jewelry shop and doesn't steal anything?"

"I don't know, maybe it was some drunk," the owner answered lamely.

Adèle didn't believe him for one second, but if he wouldn't tell her the truth, she'd have to find out some other way. She got a statement from the owner of the Family Jewels, plus Jon's Gemsmithing, the other store that was burgled. Limestone and Adèle returned to police headquarters to finish up their shift, and Adèle was not looking forward to being in charge of all their paperwork for the season. She let Limestone go home, to whatever it was he did all day, while she finished the incident reports in a slapdash manner despite Old Man Barteau's continual admonishments. She was happy to discover that the dwarf was still sleeping, and she headed home to her crumbling apartment block in the Vieux Fort. Though it was only barely after sunup, the night hadn't quite surrendered its stifling heat, and Adèle realized with a sinking sensation that this day would be even hotter than the last.

After opening her apartment door, Adèle was relieved to discover her one night stand had left without stealing anything, saving her the irritation of having to hunt him down and make him suffer. Her apartment was empty, and the hardwood floors were stained by years of condensed humidity. She had a small kitchen, a small bathroom, a small living room, and a small bedroom; all enclosed by crumbling walls that hadn't been repaired in decades. She could probably afford a better apartment outside the Vieux Fort, but she spent so little time at home that she'd never felt the bother of moving to be worth it. She stripped off her sticky uniform and was immediately hit with the stink of unwashed human, and she cursed under her breath. She'd taken a cold shower right before she left from work, for all the good it had done. With a sigh, she climbed into the tiny stall and let warm water collected in a water tank on the roof flow over her. An actual, indoor shower was one of few luxuries the Vieux Fort apartments provided, and she was loath to give it up.

Her breakfast – that is, dinner – consisted of summer sausage, ripe tomatoes, wild rice, all mixed together with a fiery pepper sauce, and a glass of warm stout to help wash it down. Adèle was exhausted and she scarfed her food down as fast as her stomach would allow. She finally made it to bed by 9am, when most of the city's residents were finally awakening to a wicked hangover and a furious boss.

She dreamed of ghosts, grinning in the darkness.

Adèle woke up with a start, and her heart was pounding mercilessly in her chest. Something had been chasing her, and no matter how fast she ran, she couldn't get away. That something had chased her through the city's graveyard and Adèle climbed to the very top of the bell tower only to find – something. She couldn't remember, and she tried to dispel some of the leftover terror from the nightmare with a shake of her head. She donned her Watch uniform, which was a black tunic with silver studs, a black skirt tailored especially for her, and black boots. Black wasn't the best color for dealing with the hot Genua summer, but it did command respect; she was also thankful that the color hid the sweat stains.

She ran a few simple errands before the start of her shift. She had to pick up another few days' worth of groceries, collect one of her dresses from the tailor, and see if she had any mail waiting for her at the post. True to expectation, the day was even hotter than the one before, and she sweated furiously into her tunic which clung to her like a second skin. Everywhere she went, people seemed on edge. She had to break up an impending fight at the boulangerie, and she was only able to separate the two combatants with the firm threat of arrest. People drove their carriages too fast on the cobblestone boulevards and they shouted too loudly. Two fishing trawlers collided in the bay, and it took a small battalion of Genua Watch to keep a brawl from breaking out between the crews. Something about the city struck her as wrong.

Back at the station, Michel was manning the front desk, much to her dismay.

"Hey, beautiful," he said with a wave.

"Tais-toi! You know I don't mix work with romance."

"You say that, but I know you'll give in eventually. Anyway, your dwarf friend is awake."

Adèle sighed. "Did you debrief him?"

"Nope. I figured you'd want first crack at him when he came to."

Adèle knew that was a lie – Michel just didn't want to do any extra work. She shoved his feet off the front desk as she pushed past, eliciting an annoyed shout from the lazy copper. Limestone was already in front of the detainment cells, and the dwarf was presenting an animated case to the impassive troll.

"You've got to believe me!" the dwarf cried. "Let me out right this minute or the dead will take over the city!"

"You stay in there," Limestone replied slowly.

"You've _got_ to stop him!" insisted the dwarf.

Adèle sighed. She knew from long experience that everyone in a jail cell was innocent. There were cases of mistaken identity, evil twin syndrome, and people just holding things for a friend. It was incredible, really, that the Watch never managed to catch a guilty person even by statistical accident. Adèle grabbed a chair and dragged it in front of the dwarf's cell – she was obviously going to be there awhile.

"S'il vous plaît let's start with the basics. Name?"

"He's going to take over Genua!" the dwarf shouted with wild eyes.

Adèle sighed. "Name?"

The dwarf paused.

"Harkakh," he finally admitted.

"Okay, Harkakh. You know I caught you red-handed breaking, entering, and burgling, right? It's easier for us both if you just say 'yes.'"

"It wasn't me," Harkakh answered with a moan. "The Sourceror made me do it!"

Adèle raised an eyebrow. "The Sourceror?"

"Well, he's at least a wizard, or something! He put a bunch of us under a spell and told us we had to find the Limelight of P'baght."

"This is an interesting story," Adèle said, scribbling furiously on her notepad. "And what does this have to do with why you were stealing a large emerald from Jon's Gemsmithing?"

A rumble of thunder rolled through the Watch building, which punctuated the beginning of a fierce afternoon rainstorm.

"Let me start at the beginning," protested Harkakh.

"Why the Hell not?" Adèle answered, secretly relieved to have an excuse to avoid going out into the impending downpour.

"About five years ago, we found an excellent vein of agate in the northern region of Genua. It's not as valuable as gold or diamonds, of course, but we made a thin living from digging them up and selling them to traders. We also found a lot of bones, really old ones. Well, this guy named Ravel took an interest in the bones, and so we sold them to him. He paid a small fortune in gold to take possession of as much as we could dig up."

Adèle looked up sharply. "Desecration of a cemetery and grave robbing are both crimes."

"Give us a break, okay?" the dwarf stammered. "These bones were all hundreds and hundreds of years old. Plus, he didn't tell us what he was doing with them; for all we knew he was opening a museum. We made a poor living on agate and his gold was all that kept our settlement going."

"You could have gone back into the mountains," Adèle pointed out.

Limestone just glared, and a heavy rain beat down mercilessly on the Watch station.

"There would be, um, difficulties with that," Harkakh said.

"Forget it. Go on," Adèle said, waving her quill.

"Ravel put a spell on us or something! Yesterday, my head got all cloudy, and me and several of my companions came into the city without really knowing why. I could hear him talking in my head! He said we needed to find all the big green stones we could. He said we had to search the city for the Limelight of P'baght, and if we couldn't find it, he was going to kill all of us and our families!" the dwarf finished with terrified eyes.

Adèle sighed. She'd heard stories like these dozens of times before – every arrestee had one. She was going to put it out of her head entirely and close the inquiry; she really was. The whole thing was as cut and dried as you could possibly want as a copper – the perpetrator was caught committing a crime red-handed and was arrested at the scene. It was neat, tidy, and entirely wrong. Something about Alain, owner of the Family Jewels, still bothered her.

"This Limelight, what is it?" Adèle asked casually.

Harkakh's eyes darkened. "They say it's a stone that can raise the dead. When Ravel talked, like in my mind, I could feel something of his plans. He wanted to raise an army of ghosts to take over Genua!"

Adèle shuddered. "I don't like ghosts."

"Then you'd better stop him, because he's going to bring a lot of them into the city!"

"This Ravel – where does he live?"

"I don't know. Out in the bayou, I guess."

"Well, this has been enlightening," Adèle lied. "I think you can just slow your wheels in here for awhile while I look into your story."

Limestone and Adèle walked back to the Family Jewels. Alain, the owner, was not pleased to see them.

"Can't you see I'm busy fixing the damage to my store allowed by the Watch?" he asked acidly.

"Pretty stones," Limestone observed. "Quality craftsmanship."

In spite of himself, Alain smiled. "I only sell the finest and rarest merchandise in this store."

"How much is that one worth?" Adèle asked innocently, pointing to a heart-shaped sapphire broach inside the broken case.

"In ducats? Over nine thousand," the owner answered proudly.

"And the thief just decided to break in, shatter the case, and completely ignore it, right?"

The owner's face darkened significantly. "I think you'd better go, if you aren't paying customers."

"I'd love to go, but I still have a few questions," Adèle replied airily. "For instance, what was taken from the display case? I'd love to know the answer to that."

"I already told you. Nothing."

Adèle pointed to a dark patch on the sun-bleached satin. "I'll bet you a thousand ducats that there was something sitting right there last night and it wasn't there this morning. What was it?"

Alain sighed and locked the repaired door of the jewelry shop. "I'll tell you. It was the Limelight of P'baght."

Adèle pretended to be shocked. "I've been hearing a lot about that lately. What is it, some kind of gemstone?"

"Not exactly. It's more like… a lens."

"A lens?"

Alain nodded. "It acts like a projector when magical energy is shunted through it. The wizard can control what it shows."

"So why did you lie to us last night?" Adèle asked.

"I don't trust coppers. I have a pretty good idea of who stole it, and I intended to go and get it back myself. It's a very valuable item; too valuable to end up in an evidence locker – or some copper's pocket."

"Perish the thought," Adèle answered. "Who do you think took it? A dwarf?"

Alain eyed her suspiciously. "No. A man named Ravel came by a few times asking for it. He couldn't come up with enough money to convince me to part with it. I'm sure he's behind the theft."

"I've been hearing that name a lot, too. Who is Ravel?"

Alain shrugged. "He's a wizard, or something. He lives in the old PoirrierMansion out in the swamp."

"D'accord. I want you to stay away from that place until we finish our investigation," Adèle instructed.

"But - "

"Officer Rumpwheat said this is an ongoing investigation," Limestone rumbled.

Alain stammered, "Oh, yes, of course…"

"Okay, Limestone, let's go check out the Poirrier place."

They ran into their first difficulty in getting a carriage. The PoirrierMansion was five miles north of the northernmost suburb of Genua, and it would be a long walk through mud in the late evening. As soon as Adèle told the drivers where she wanted to go, no amount of money was sufficient to convince the coachmen to drive them to and from the mansion. Finally Adèle gave up and submitted to the expense of renting an entire coach, sans driver.

"Superstitious poppycock," she muttered when the lender tried to convince her to stay away from the old Porrier place.

"Well, don't come crying to me when you never return," the carriage owner hissed. "And I'm billing the Watch if I don't get my coach back!"

Adèle and Limestone slowly drove north along the muddy road. Several times they had to stop and get the coach unstuck from a rut, a task which Adèle was grateful to leave to the powerfully strong troll. Still, the wheels kicked up clumps of mud as they drove, and soon Adèle and Limelight were both splattered from head to toe with the thick, fragrant loam. They passed few people on the road; it was after dark, and few people wanted to brave the treacherous road if they could avoid it. Suddenly, Adèle spied a series of strange green lights in the distance. She reined the horses to a stop.

"What's that?" she whispered to Limestone.

"I don't know," the troll responded.

Adèle clicked her tongue and climbed off of the stagecoach. They were near a small tobacco farm on the Rivière Vieux that made small batches of fine cigars. She crept closer to the lights, and with a sinking feeling, she realized they were floating, human shaped blobs. Without warning one materialized beside her and she let out an involuntary shriek. She clamped her hand over her mouth, ears burning.

"What's wrong?" Limestone asked with evident concern.

"Fantômes!"

Adèle had wrestled with goblins, stared down hardened criminals, and once, forcefully disarmed a rampaging vampire. But the one thing that terrified her ever since she was a little girl was ghosts. Without taking a second look, Adèle leapt aboard the stagecoach and urged the horses forward until they were in a full gallop. Her knees were shaking with irrational, uncontrollable terror. She bit her lip and tried not to cry in front of Limestone.

"There is the turnoff for the PoirrierMansion," Limestone finally observed.

She nodded, still not trusting her voice.

They slowly eased the coach up the tributary road that lead to the PoirrierMansion. The house had been abandoned for decades, and even squatters saw no reason to reside in the spooky estate nestled in the swamp far off the beaten trail. Adèle was finally forced to bring their coach to a stop when they discovered that the road to the mansion was completely underwater. She peered in the growing moonlight to see a small dock, but no boat. With dismay, she realized that the only boat was docked on Porrier Island, where the mansion loomed ominously in the darkness.

"Merde! How do we get over there?" she asked out loud.

Swimming was not an option. The swamp was home to alligators, as well as poisonous eels and snakes. It was too far to throw a rope, and Adèle wasn't excited by the prospect of returning to town for a canoe. While she was trying to come up with a plan, Limestone tested the water, and soon discovered that it only came up to his chest at its deepest point.

"I can carry you," the troll growled amiably.

Adèle was profoundly grateful. "Thank you so much!"

The pair made it across the swamp without incident. But as soon as they set foot on the shore of Porrier Island, a green, ghostly apparition floated out of the mansion, causing Adèle to shriek in terror once again. But in spite of her trembling legs, she held her ground.

"Go awayyyyy," the ghost said, eyes rolling into the back of its head. "This is my hooooome and you don't belong heeeere."

"I'm in the Genua Watch," Adèle hissed through her constricted throat. "I'll go wherever I'm needed."

The phantom vanished, and Adèle had to hold onto Limestone's arm before she could go forward. When she finally recovered her senses, she strode up to the PoirrierMansion's front door and knocked on it boldly, not expecting much.

"This is the Genua City Watch!" she announced. "Open up! Ravel, we want to talk to you!"

To the officers' amazement, the door slowly opened with a creak. Adèle peered inside, but didn't see anyone who could have possibly opened it.

"What's going on?" Limestone asked.

Adèle admitted, "I don't know. But we have to interrogate this Ravel character. It's our job, so let's… let's just go ahead."

The inside of the mansion was totally falling apart. In many places, the flora of the swamp had broken into the large building, and it was steadily pulling apart stairs and banisters. The mansion had been looted several times since its abandonment, and almost anything of value had been taken by thieves. A few broken porcelain plates on the floor of the dining room was all that was left of the Poirrier family's fine china, and all the silverware was long gone. Adèle peered into a grimy mirror hanging on one of the walls in the dining room, and what she saw filled her with terror.

Inside the mirror, she saw her own face looking back at her, but behind her at the table a family of ghosts was eating a gristly Hogswatch feast. Instead of the traditional game fowl, the family had the writhing body of a screaming woman cut open on their dining table. Adèle recoiled, and the scene vanished.

"You don't belooooong here," the ghostly voice echoed through the dining room. "Leaaaaave."

"Nom de Dieu," Adèle hissed, stumbling backwards.

Limestone caught her. "Are you alright?"

She shook her head. "Oui. Let's just keep going. I don't know how anyone could live in this ghastly place."

She stepped out of the dining room, shaking with fear. Limestone followed closely behind. The ground beneath her suddenly gave out, and for a second, she found herself lifted up into the air at breathtaking speed. Just as quickly she heard a loud rip, and she found herself sprawled out on top of Limestone on the floor.

"What was that?!" she quietly shouted.

Limestone looked up. "A trap."

She followed his gaze, and discovered that a torn net was hanging from a winch above them. Limestone had been so heavy that he'd broken through the bottom when it tried to lift, which was a very good thing; without his weight, Adèle might have been trapped in the net. She eyed it curiously.

"It looks new," she said. "It's a lot newer than anything else in this building. Something tells me we might not be alone in here…"

The two advanced into the smoking room, treading more carefully this time. A thorough search of the water-stained room turned up nothing. Adèle held up her lantern to examine each nook and cranny of the room, but she couldn't find anything of interest. Limestone leaned against a wall as she turned to leave, and then there was a loud crash and she turned around to discover that the giant troll had vanished.

"Limestone!" she shouted. "Limestone, where are you!?"

She listened carefully, but she heard nothing but a few strange creaks and an unidentified rumbling. Adèle tried moving torch scones and pulling books off the bookshelf, but she couldn't find the trap that Limestone had sprung before disappearing.

"Merde!" she cried out loud.

Out in the corridor, she tried to find a way downstairs. Yellowed pictures hung in wooden frames bloated by the water leaking through every wall of the collapsing mansion. She stepped back into the foyer, trying to find a route to the basement, when the sound of straining metal above her head made her instinctually jump backwards. Adèle only narrowly avoided being crushed by a heavy chandelier, which crashed into the floor right where she had been standing with an ear-shattering roar.

Adèle could feel her breasts rise and fall in her tunic as she tried not to hyperventilate. She'd almost been ventilated by a very heavy chandelier, and when she looked up at the chain that held it, she could have sworn she saw a black-robed figure scurrying across the second floor.

"Genua Watch, freeze!" she cried to no avail.

With some trepidation, Adèle started mounting the stairs that led to the second floor. Several of them were totally eaten through and she had to test every step before proceeding. Then, she saw the characteristic lime green shine of the Genua region's ghosts, and one of the foul specters was floating down the stair well directly for her. Unable to stop herself, she shrieked again, and stumbled backwards, driven by raw fear. The stairs beneath her gave way, and she felt the sickening sensation of freefall for a second. Just as quickly, she landed on a lower floor with a crash that sent a javelin of pain roaring up her spine. She groaned, and slowly picked herself up off the basement floor.

She was in some kind of storage room. There were boxes and crates stacked high, full of miscellaneous costumes and decorations. Adèle leafed through one open box to find a banner that said "House of the Rising Sun Casino Grand Opening!" which led her to pause. As far as she knew, there was no casino by that name in Genua, and the boxes of supplies still looked new. She found a thick steel door in one corner of the room, and she unbarred it only to discover Limestone trapped inside.

"Thank you for the rescue," the troll said slowly.

"Are you alright?"

Limestone nodded. "A little shaken by the fall. The door did not open."

"Don't worry about it," Adèle said quietly. "Just follow me, okay?"

The pair continued down the hallway. Adèle opened every door they came across, but it was no use. There were rooms full of supplies, more House of the Rising Sun paraphernalia, and mechanical rooms that would have served to heat and electrify the house if it were still inhabited. Finally, they hit pay dirt. There was a deep well with a circular stair threading around the sides, and a racket of clanging and mechanical noises coming from deep below. Adèle took a deep breath, and then led Limestone slowly down the stairwell.

This one, at least, was in good repair, and it seemed as though it had been used recently. The thick layer of dust and grime that covered almost everything else in the mansion was absent here, and the stairs held even Limestone's weight without any complaint. Just as Adèle was starting to get complacent, another ghost appeared right in front of her. This time she bit her tongue before she could shriek, and then she saw the ghost was carrying a deadly-looking crossbow. With lightning fast reflexes, the ghostly creature aimed his bow and fired. Adele squeezed her eyes shut as the bolt rocketed through the air and went right through Adèle's head. She winced, and then opened her eyes to discover the bolt had passed through her completely unharmed. Adèle blinked.

Limestone punched the ghost, but his fist went right through its ephemeral form. He followed through directly into the wall, raising a loud crash and shattering the stone sides of the stairwell. A little bit of ground water leaked through the gaping hole. The ghost continued to float right in front of them, and Adèle had a strange feeling. She reached out and touched the ghost, which didn't react to her touch at all. In all of the stories she'd read as a kid, the ghosts were supposed to be cold to the touch and fill the surrounding area with an overwhelming aura of dread. Now that she stood face to face with one of the creatures, it seemed strangely unconscious, and the atmosphere still felt like the hot air of Genua summer. She touched it again, more curiously. Suddenly, the ghost lowered its crossbow once again and fired, but this time Adèle didn't even flinch. Once again, the bolt went through her without causing any damage.

"Something strange is going on," she said.

"There are noises from below," Limestone told her.

She nodded. "Let's keep going."

The sub-basement was eighty feet below the basement itself, and they clambered down the staircase quickly. There was a locked wooden door at the bottom of the well, and Adèle drew her crossbow and motioned Limestone to get ready. At her signal, the hulking troll knocked the door over without a moment's hesitation, and she swung her crossbow around to provide him with cover.

"Genua Watch! Don't move!" she shouted before she even saw anyone.

The inside of the room was a sight to behold. There were boilers and clanking gears and levers of all kinds. In the middle of the room, a giant machine that looked like a cross between a telescope and an armillary sphere shot a beam of green light up out of the sub-basement and into the sky. A green gemstone glowed brightly in the machine's heart, and a black robed man that must be Ravel stood over it, concentrating intently. Ravel heard the crash and turned to face the intruders, but Limestone was on him in an instant. The troll put one hand on the man's shoulder, which was the most secure form of detainment Adèle could possibly imagine.

"You're under arrest for attempted murder, theft, squatting, and scaring the bejesus out of me," Adèle announced.

"Let me explain!" the terrified man rasped.

But Adèle caught sight of a blueprint on one wall and she wandered over to it. Suddenly, everything was coming together. It was the floor plan for a megacasino built right on the banks of Vieux River, where families traditionally grew tobacco or farmsteaded. Based on its location, dozens of families would have to be evicted from their land before the House of the Rising Sun could be constructed. Adèle turned to the man she knew to be Ravel, her green eyes glittering.

"Let me see if I have this straight," she said, striding over to the detained man. "You want to build a giant casino on property owned by other people. So, you need to get them off their land. But you didn't want to pay them full market value, and some people won't accept any amount of money to leave the land their families have farmed for generations. So you needed an ace in the hole."

Ravel didn't say anything, but the look in his eyes told Adèle she was on the right track.

She continued, "You have a little bit of magic but not enough. So you decided to scare the pants off the local residents to convince them to sell you the land for a song. You tried to buy the Limelight of P'baght, but you didn't want to pay the asking price for that, either, so you hypnotized some former business partners of yours into stealing it. Then you put it in this contraption, and you send fake ghosts out all over the countryside to terrify the residents until they sell at rock bottom prices. Am I wrong?"

"I don't have to answer you," Ravel sputtered. "I want a lawyer."

Something about the man's face seemed off. It didn't move quite right; it was almost as if it were made of wax… On an impulse, Adèle reached out and yelped when the man's face came off in her hand. She was quite surprised by the face Ravel was wearing underneath.

"That's right," Lily Weatherwax hissed. "It's _me_. And I would have gotten away with it if not for you meddling Watch!"


End file.
